In recent years, mobile telecommunications carriers have experienced a dramatic increase in traffic on their networks, and this trend will likely continue. This increase in traffic has been caused in part by the increased adoption of smartphones and other devices that rely on mobile telecommunications networks, and the migration of many customers from utilizing landline telecommunication services to utilizing mobile telecommunication services for their communications needs. To meet the demands of higher traffic and to improve the end user experience, mobile telecommunications carriers are examining mechanisms by which to improve network efficiency, network capacity, and the end user experience, while keeping operational costs at a level conducive to maintaining competitive rates for the services they provide. One such mechanism is the use of WI-FI technologies to supplement existing cellular network infrastructure.
The internet of things (“IoT”) is a concept of making physical objects, collectively “things,” network addressable to facilitate interconnectivity for the exchange of data. Current cellular networks are not well-suited for many of the IoT verticals, especially the verticals that require low power and low cost. As a result, several non-cellular, low power, wide area (“LPWA”) access technologies are being explored in the industry as an alternative to cellular. If such technologies are deployed, the result would be completely separate networks that would require independent deployment and operation. Currently, proponents of LPWA technologies are working on industry proposals for interworking with cellular technologies in order to reduce the overhead of deploying and operating independent networks.